Amazon's Lovefilm video-on-demand service will begin offering HD streams today, but what resolution viewers get will depend on what gadget they're in front of.
Mac and PC viewers, tuning in through Lovefilm's website will be treated to 1080p streams, the IPTV firm said. Watch on an iPad and Xbox 360 and you'll get 720p footage …

COMMENTS

Netflix has the better PS3 UI anyway

So MEH

If you're dumb enough to pay an XBOX Gold subscription ON TOP of your Lovefilm/Netflix sub to be able to use it on that console then you largely deserve what you get. Don't care about HD especially, it's just a bonus, I want to watch the film, not count the pixels.

(Yes I realise people might already pay for gaming anyway on XBOX but if you don't, paying two subs for the benefit of one is lunacy)

Hang fire. I wasn't with LoveFilm for long, but when I was, I'm pretty sure the PS3 streamer had a HD option. I remember having to switch down to a lower quality to watch Sky Blue, because their server kept lagging on HD. Did that just happen in my head, or were they "compressed" and "less compressed" as opposed to 480p vs 720p?

"5. Why are Sony TVs & Blu-ray players, and the PlayStation®3 and iPad® not on this list?

We’re working on bringing full HD to Sony and the PlayStation®3 very soon, sorry for the delay (remember, the PS3™ already plays titles in higher quality than standard definition). And we don't currently have studio rights to stream HD on iPad®."

"And we don't currently have studio rights to stream HD on iPad®."

"And we don't currently have studio rights to stream HD on iPad®."

And the movie industry wonder why people pirate stuff... why the hell do you need a separate set of rights to stream on a different device? Is this just an excuse from LoveFilm or are the studios really that greedy?

I'm sticking to sales

Re: I'm sticking to sales

Good choice and I respect it. I've gone to Netflix primarily because I don't have/want a subscription TV service, and I've found after buying DVDs for ten years that I now have boxes full of DVDs I haven't watched for years and they're just taking up space in my house. I can sell them, but it's effort to do so, and the difference between what I pad for them and what I'll get back is probably more than the Netflix subscription.

I do still buy DVDs of films and TV series if I'm really a fan of them.

What bit rate are they using these days?

12meg requirement for say a 2hr movie would mean a roughly 10gig file, which isn't too bad for 1080, but not ideal - would mean your line running at full pelt the whole time, i.e. not hitting a bandwith throttle. So I assume then that they would hope to get a continuous real world of what, 60-70%? so about a 6-7gig file? That's starting to sound less good.

Re: HD pixar movies

Just wish it had better content.

Been thinking of dropping the streaming service. There just isnt enough good current content to make it worthwhile.

If you look on the Zune Video service there are plenty of current 2011/2012 movies but Lovefilm you have just a mere smattering of 2010/11 releases. The rest is pretty much junk or stuff that Film4/ITV2 has shown to death over the past 5 years.

Very disappointing. Plus the bloody god awful current 360 UI is a pig to navigate it with.

LoveFilm Instants content

Sure there are some box sets, which are slightly interesting time-wasters, but the Film content (Surely the main purpose!) is abysmal.

2-3 decent recent films, and the rest are all god-awful b-movies and flops. Seriously.

Try going in there and sorting by film rating - there will be about 3x 4 star films, but the vast majority are 3 and below.

After getting the steaming service I spent 2-3 evenings watching stuff - there's literally nothing left on there i want to watch. If I didn't get the service heavily subsidised through work, I wouldn't pay for it.